For the best return on the holiday, it's a good idea not to procrastinate. Start a series of three emails with a general reminder that Mother’s Day is May 8 this year. Then follow up with an update that reflects this year’s hot sellers and recommendations for mom. Finally, round out the campaign with a last-minute email letting your subscribers know there's still time to make mom happy on her special day.

Three easy piecesIn the first email of the three-part series, include a clickable call to action with photos of the special gifts and promotions you have for sale this Mother’s Day. Including graphics will not only make your email more compelling by helping subscribers visualize your merchandise, they also direct you on what to include in the second email of the series. Combining graphics with hyperlinks transforms a simple email campaign into a strategic marketing program.

Clickable calls to action within your graphics enable you to analyze how subscribers react to your merchandise and holiday deals (i.e., a click overlay report). The data on who is clicking specific graphic hyperlinks will dictate what to include in the second email campaign. Reuse the most clicked graphics or swap in something similar in the follow-up email. Consider including a top five list of the most popular items. Doing so eases the mystery for those who just can't decide on the right present to share this year.

If you're segmenting your email list, you can take click overlay reports one step further by customizing the follow-up email by groups. For instance, according to the NRF study, men planned to spend an average of $154.74 on Mother's Day gifts. Women, on the other hand, planned to spend an average of $100.46. Daughters and sons in the 25-year-old to 34-year-old age group planned to spend an average of $156.84. Use your segmented lists to recommend selections that fit these findings.

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